Business Grants, Loans and Support Available to the Beauty Industry During the Coronavirus Pandemic

Linnaean Wellness London

On the 23rd of March 2019, spas, wellness centres and massage parlous were ordered to close shortly followed by all non-essential retail stores including hair, beauty and nail salons amid a national lockdown. The Coronavirus pandemic is set to deeply change the beauty industry as well as the British market and as businesses attempt to stay afloat, we have compiled a non-exhaustive list of the help available to those affected by the pandemic.

The Government have a dedicated website for business support.

What the government is pledging:

• a Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme;

• deferring VAT and Income Tax payments until the end of June;

• a Statutory Sick Pay relief package for some UK based Small-and medium-sized businesses (who employ less than 250 people as of 28 February 2020) to be able to reclaim Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) paid for sickness absence due to COVID-19;

• a 12-month business rates holiday for all retail, hospitality, leisure and nursery businesses in England;

• small business grant funding of £10,000 (an increase from £3,000) for all business in receipt of small business rate relief or rural rate relief;

• grant funding of £25,000 for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses with property with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000

• the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme offering loans of up to £5 million for SMEs through the British Business Bank. The government will provide lenders with a guarantee of 80% on each loan (subject to a per-lender cap on claims) to give lenders further confidence in continuing to provide finance to SMEs. The government will not charge businesses or banks for this guarantee, and the Scheme will support loans of up to £5 million in value. There will be an interest-free period for loans taken out through the business interruption loan scheme of 12 months;

• a new lending facility from the Bank of England to help support liquidity among larger firms, helping them bridge coronavirus disruption to their cash flows through loans;

• the HMRC Time To Pay Scheme, The service is designed to help those who are unable to pay their tax bill;

• The introduction of a new job retention scheme will cover up to 80 per cent of wage costs (details to be confirmed) backdated to 1 March for a period of three months or longer, if needed, for small businesses, charities and not for profit organisations. Grants due to be available to business within weeks;

• Suspension of the minimum income floor for the self-employed: self-employed people can now access, in full, Universal Credit at a rate equivalent to Statutory Sick Pay for employees. The Universal Credit standard allowance is set to rise over the next 12 months by £1,000.

• The next self-assessment payments deferred to Jan 2021 for the self-employed;

• Additional Small Business Grant Scheme funding for local authorities to support small businesses that already pay little or no business rates because of small business rate relief (SBBR), rural rate relief (RRR) and tapered relief has been made available. This will provide a one-off grant of £10,000 to eligible businesses to help meet their ongoing business costs;

For information on how to access government support, click here.

The government has announced that more aid towards self employed workers will be offered within the next couple of days.

What other helps is available?

1. NHBF Closure Documents for Clients

   The NHBF has shared templates of emails, social media posts, posters as well as letters announcing furlough to employers available for free to all members here.

2. Phorest Coronavirus Communication Pack

   CoronaVirus-related material to help you communicate with both your clients and your team is available here for salon owners for free.

3. Beauty Bulb Free Advice

   The Beauty Bulb Team are offering free advice to beauty brands who need some extra support during the coming weeks. The team are sharing best practice information and are taking calls from those beauty businesses who would like to talk through their ideas and strategies for how to best tackle the ever-changing virus situation and the challenges it presents.

4. Hair and Beauty Charity Aid

   If you are experiencing extreme financial difficulties as a result of the coronavirus, the Hair and Beauty Charity application process will be undertaken in the usual way. The form can be downloaded here. For more information on who is or is not entitled to financial aid, read here.

How you can help

1. Treatwell Petition to Protect the Hair and Beauty Industry

   Treatwell has launched a petition to protect and support the hair and beauty industry in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The petition addressed to the UK Government aks them to provide economic hardship relief for the industry. Treatwell has also created a Facebook Group, Behind Closed Doors, with the hair and beauty industry, to promote conversation and advice-sharing. You can sign the petition here.

2. Sign an open letter from the Creative Industries Federation to the Prime Minister

   In support of freelancers and the self employed, Creative Industries Federation has released a letter which anyone is available to sign calling on the government to implement a Temporary Income Protection Fund specifically for the self-employed. Available to sign here.

3. Rescue Petition

   This petition aims to engage the government in supporting the beauty industry through a rescue package, available to sign here.

4. Sharing your Salon Supplies

   Now that salons are closed, those who have stock of gloves, sanitiser or masks are encouraged to share these with hospitals where nurses and doctors do not have enough protection. Katie Barnes @katiebarnesnailartist (instagram) is currently collecting PPE including surgical masks and gloves for NHS and medical professionals that cannot get supplies and are in desperate need. She will be arranging one large collection instead of several drop offs and stresses that every little helps and saves lives. You can get in touch on her social media or info@katiebarnesacademy.com  to contribute.

5. Hair and Beauty Charity Relief Fun

   The official industry charity - Hair & Beauty Charity, has launched a Relief Fund to raise much needed funds during the Coronavirus crisis, you can donate here to support a salon in need.